Clayton Kershaw helped pitch the Los Angeles Dodgers to a second consecutive win against the St. Louis Cardinals by turning in a dominant seven innings that one point looked to have the makings of a perfect game.
Kershaw retired the first 13 batters faced before Dylan Carlson’s single with one out in the fifth inning, and he allowed just two hits on the night. Both of the Dodgers’ shutout wins this season have come in games started by the future Hall of Famer.
“I think I’ve said it before, but tonight was his best night for me, as far as stuff start to finish,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the 1-0 win.
“I thought the fastball glove side and arm side, the curveball, the lateness of it as was good as I’ve seen it. The slider, just the way he tunneled, was exceptional. That’s as good of a team that you’re going to see versus left, and the way he dominated those guys was pretty impressive.”
Although Kershaw largely breezed through the outing, he was removed at 88 pitches over seven shutout innings. He finished with nine strikeouts against zero walks.
When asked for his reasoning behind the decision, Roberts had somewhat of frustrated tone and stood by removing the veteran starter.
“First off, Clayton is always going to say he’s available. So I think we need to put this to bed about every fifth day when I decide to take Clayton Kershaw out of a game,” Roberts began.
“The stuff started to tick down a little bit, the last few starts we’ve ridden him, there’s a long way to go, and regardless of the outcome, it was the right decision. I’m watching the game.”
Evan Phillips stranded a two-out walk and Chris Taylor’s error in the eighth inning, although the line drive that was caught for the third out easily could have carried into center field for what would’ve been a game-tying RBI single.
Brusdar Graterol earned the save by working around a two-out base hit in the ninth inning.
Clayton Kershaw felt capable of remaining in game
Kershaw historically has attempted to lobby into remaining in starts, but didn’t appear to have much objection when Roberts went to congratulate him in the dugout after the seventh inning.
“Doc kind of seemed like he had his mind made up,” Kershaw explained. “I felt pretty good tonight and said I was good, but obviously with Evan and Brusdar ready to go against a righty-heavy lineup, I understand.
“But yeah, I felt good tonight. I could’ve done it, for sure.”
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